Grappling Tips Newsletter

As you know, in the last few newsletters we've been discussing body position for guillotine chokes and using the 'Von Flue' choke to recounter the guillotine. If you missed them you can click to see the first post here and the second post here.

Well, thanks to Shaldag on the Sherdog.net forums I recently I found yet ANOTHER example of a the Von Flue choke being used in competition. This one is nice because it shows both things we've been talking about: the battle to circle the body so as to nullify the power of the guillotine, and then finishing the fight with the Von Flue choke.

So watch this video with our recent discussion in mind. The positional work to counter the guillotine (and the subsequent choke) starts at about 2 minutes and 14 seconds:

Labels: chokes, the guard

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When people are learning the Von Flue choke they often find that their opponent can bridge them over and they end up on the bottom. If you're getting rolled into a bad position when trying this choke then check that your legs are perpendicular (i.e. at 90 degrees) to your opponent. If his head is pointing to 12 o'clock, then your legs should either be to 3 or 9 o'clock. The closer your legs get to his head the easier it is for him to bridge you over.

Also keep in mind that some grapplers just have very explosive bridging power. If I was unsure about my base and going against one of these bridging dynamos I might choose NOT switch my legs, and simply use shoulder pressure. It's the same choke, just relying less on body weight, more on arm strength, and a bit slower than the inverted-leg-switching Von Flue choke I showed in aforementioned blog entry.

To illustrate this non-leg-switching variation, here is another video of another Von Flue choke in action, starting at about 1:00 in the video (thanks to TravenBJJ on the mma.tv forum for bringing it to my attention):

Labels: chokes, the guard

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OK, I have to admit that I'm exaggerating with the whole "never get guillotined again" title, but it's almost true. If you incorporate principle that I'm about to share with into your grappling two things will happen:

1. you'll tap out to many, many fewer guillotine chokes, and
2. you'll really increase how often you manage to finish your opponent's with the same choke.

I was very happy when I managed to formalize this principle in my own mind. Both for my own learning process and for teaching others in person or via DVDs I really like to emphasize principles over technique. It's much simpler to memorize one principle and use it in 10 different situations than it is to memorize ten different techniques.

So go watch (and rate) my Youtube video on body positioning for the guillotine choke. As a special bonus I've included a section on the 'Von Flue' guillotine recounter, which is always an unwelcome surprise for your sparring partners!



And if you think that the Von Flue choke is unrealistic I encourage you to watch Jason Von Flue pull it off on The Ultimate Fighter TV show:

Labels: chokes, the guard

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I've just added a new article on how to become that great training partner that everyone wants to work with (and show all their secret techniques to). This article was written by Jason Scully from Grapplersguide.com.

Labels: the mental aspect, training

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I'm pretty excited these days: there are so many projects in the works, and I think that they will all be really useful for the grappling community. Some of these projects include:

• Several articles which are due to be published soon in Ultimate Grappling Magazine
• More articles (and/or ebooks!) in the early planning stages
• Many new topics that I want to cover in future newsletters and blog posts
• Another Grapplearts instructional video will be posted onto Youtube any day now
• Several collaborative projects with other grapplers and martial artists
  

Stay tuned - when these things materialize you'll be the first to
know!
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Most of my text message communications to my friends are pretty short and mundane. Recently, however, I had a very interesting conversation with MMA fighter Denis Kang, partially over the phone but mostly using text messages. Despite the limitations of this conversational medium I came away with some great insights into MMA conditioning.

Denis has spent the last several months in Montreal Canada, both to help George St. Pierre's with his pre-UFC training camp, and also to prepare for his own upcoming title defense in the Spirit MC organization. Denis has worked with a great number of top conditioning coaches, but he told me that while working with coach Jonathan Chaimberg his strength and endurance has jumped to new levels.

One of the things that Denis and George St. Pierre do are circuits which incorporate heavy low-repetition exercises (like weighted pullups) followed by explosive plyometric movements (like medicine ball slams). This combination of weight training and plyometrics is called 'complex training'

To illustrate what complex training in a conditioning circuit might look like, Denis put one circuit, a small part of his workout, onto Youtube and agreed to let me tell the Grapplearts readership about it.



If you think that this circuit might be tiring, then imagine doing it several times in a row, with far too little rest in between. Oh, and before you even hit the weights, make sure you first 'warm up' with some leg-shredding and heart-pounding Tabata sprints on a steeply inclined treadmill!

Now you have an insider's perspective on what these athletes go through to mold their bodies to be ready for the rigors of combat sports. Isn't the life of a professional fighter appealing?

P.S. Click here for examples of other MMA conditioning routines.

P.P.S. Here is Denis teaching the Anaconda Choke, a submission he has used to great effect in MMA competition.

Labels: conditioning, MMA

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I don't remember too much from my first BJJ tournament other than that the place was packed, that there were lots of huge guys strutting around like they owned the place, and that I was nervous as hell.

One thing I DO remember, however, is an inadvertent bit of help I received in a match. I was fighting this big guy and managed to sweep and pin him. All of a sudden I heard his coach yelling "bridge him over! He doesn't have any base on that side". Although this advice was meant for my opponent he actually ended up warning ME of my vulnerability instead. I posted my head on the floor to compensate for my lack of base and he never did successfully bridge me.

This episode made a strong impression, and in subsequent competitions I always made sure not only to listen to my own coach, but also to my opponent's coach. There were many times that I had access into my opponent's brain by listening to what his coach was telling him, and sometimes those little tidbits of information made a huge difference.

Of course you should also listen to your own coach, but hopefully your coach is wording his advice in a way that isn't much use to your opponent. Little harm can come of your coach letting you know to protect your arm, or to put more weight onto your opponent, but if he's telling you stuff like "push down on his right knee and then pass to your left" then he might actually be helping your opponent instead of you!

So listen to you your coach, but also listen to your opponent's coach. It's a real life application of the old adage "keep your friends close but your enemies closer".

And if you coaching or cornering someone in a match take care what you say and how you say it. It can be a little hard to do, but try to give advice which doesn't give any useful information to the opponent.

Labels: teachers, the mental aspect

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Like many of you, last Saturday night I sat transfixed, watching Brock Lesnar maul Heath Herring at UFC 87. While I was watching, a friend leaned over and asked me if I'd injured myself recently: I had gotten so tense while watching that my neck was all stiff and my shoulders were creeping up to somewhere around my ears.

My tension (and interest in the fight) arose for at least three reasons.

Firstly, as you've probably noticed, Brock Lesnar is a very large human. He actually has to cut weight to get under the 265 pound limit for heavyweights. The combination of huge size and great athleticism makes for such fascinating viewing that if one of those Pacific Northwest earthquakes had hit while I during that fight I probably wouldn't have noticed.

Secondly, my friend and mentor Erik Paulson was in Lesnar's corner. Brock Lesnar was very happy with the training he'd received from Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson for his debut fight against Frank Mir, and so, despite a disappointing initial loss, decided to stick with his coaching staff. From personal experience I know just how good an instructor Erik is, but it's always nice when someone famous agrees with you.

Thirdly, I was fascinated by how disciplined Brock Lesnar was. He didn't get greedy or overreach, he just stuck to his gameplan and methodically continued the beatdown. He paced himself and never used dipped too deep into his anaerobic reserves. Also, when Lesnar was in mount and Herring turned to his belly, Lesnar DIDN'T put the hooks in and move into rearmount as most MMA fighters would do. Instead he dismounted, leaving Herring turtled beneath him. Years of amateur wrestling have made Lesnar very comfortable in what is basically a modified referee's position, and it worked great for him.

The point here is NOT that you shouldn't take rear mount if your opponent gives it to you - I love the rear mount and always take it if given the chance. The point is that you shouldn't change horses in midstream, especially if the horse you're on is taking you the right way anyhow. Lesnar had a strategy that had worked for him in wrestling and had worked for him in MMA training, and now it worked for him in the UFC.

Here are some links and resources relevant to some of the topics I discussed today:

• Brock Lesnar on his coaches and training to prepare for Heath Herring
• How to cut weight for MMA
• How to apply the Rear Naked Choke, my favorite rear mount submission

Labels: Brock Lesnar, MMA, teachers

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OK, draw the curtains, turn down the lights, turn off your recording devices and come closer. I want to share a principle with you that Marc Laimon calls "one of the secrets of jiu-jitsu".

Are you ready? OK, here it is: "it is impossible for your opponent to stand up when you're holding one of his legs off of the floor".

What? Not impressed?? Well I use this principle almost every time I step onto mats, so maybe I'd better explain what I'm talking about.

Have you ever almost swept an opponent and almost secured the top position when they refused to remain swept and fought their way back to neutral position? Have you ever tried to take an opponent down only to have them scramble back to a standing position? When facing certain kinds of opponents this can be a huge problem, one that I discussed at length in my last newsletter post about refusing to concede the sweep.

This very irritating conundrum can largely be solved if, at the end of your sweep, you stand up and hold one or both of his feet off of the floor. Once your opponent has his foot lifted to waist height he'd need amazing athleticism and balance to stand back up.

Some sweeps (and takedowns) are more suited for this style of finishing than others. For example, many sweeps that you might use on a standing opponent rely on grabbing a foot or ankle with your hand. While doing these types of sweeps you can often convert from using your hand to effect the sweep, to using that hand to elevate his foot to stabilize your top position.

Finally, there is one guard position is particularly good for applying this principle: the X Guard. In the X Guard you already have your opponent's foot hoisted onto your shoulder. When you sweep him from there his leg will naturally be elevated (even if you don't stand up), and it will be very, very difficult for him to stand up or scramble away. The ease which which you can elevate his leg at the end of the sweep is yet another reason to love the X Guard (in addition to being a very powerful sweeping position, well suited to grapplers who lack long, flexible legs).

You can learn more about the X Guard in my article about half guard positions and in the highly reviewed Butterfly Guard and X Guard DVD.

Have fun incorporating this very powerful principle into your training!

Labels: takedowns, the guard

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